A Blood Feud
by Blue Moon 2010
Summary: When Raven gets kidnapped in a local club, she finds herself in the middle of a blood feud between two types of immortal creatures.  She doesn't side with anyone and things begin to happen...Discalimer: don't own anything except Gabriel, Mal, and Damon
1. A Stranger or Two

Raven watched the clock carefully. She was sitting at the cash register at the completely empty EZ-MART. She couldn't wait for her shift to be over so she could escape into the nightlife of Gothom. She was so tired of the happy store music that they played that she thought if she heard the song one more time, she was going to throw up.

The second hand hit the twelve. Raven gave a whoop of sheer joy and leapt up. She ran over to the main power grid and shut everything down. It was ten and closing time. She locked the sliding doors behind her and went flying across the empty parking lot to her little black Supra. Before she got in, she pulled off her uniform to reveal tight black jeans and a white tank top that was shredded across her torso, revealing the black one she wore under it. She tossed them on the passenger seat and climbed in. Starting the car, she peeled out of the parking lot and headed for the wrong side of town.

She drove at breakneck speeds down the crowded highway, dodging traffic all the way. She turned up the music as she took her black hair out of the ponytail that was part of the EZ-MART standard uniform. She shook her head and let it cascade over her shoulders in black waves. She then grabbed her phone and dialed a number.

"Hello?" answered a male voice.

"Hey, Buster, it's Rach. What's up?" she said as she drove with her knee and applied black lipstick with her other hand.

"I'm getting ready to head out for work, why?"

"I was wondering if you could get me in for free tonight." Raven capped her lipstick and tossed it into her ashtray that held other make-up.

"If you get there early enough, I can get you in the back with me and nobody's gonna care," Buster said in his deep voice.

"Cool, be there in five." She hung up and turned a corner. She slammed on the brakes and spun the car around in a one-eighty, parallel parking outside a club called The Un-Silent Night. She applied her black eyeliner thickly and then got out of the car as another pulled up and parked on the other side of the street. "Hey Buster."

Buster was a big guy with dark brown hair and lime green eyes. He was the bouncer for the club and one of Raven's best friends. He led her through a back door that came out behind the bar where the other workers were setting up for the night. Raven was one of the regulars and they knew her well. She was greeted with boisterous shouts.

"Easy boys," she said with a grin. "I'm just here to drink and dance."

"Wot?" asked one of the guys. He was from England and had a sweet accent. "Little Raven Roth isn't gonna go lookin' for someone to take home wif her tonight?" He was tall with white blonde hair that he wore in a foe hawk. His name was Jason and he was the drummer of the house band.

"Shut up Jay," Raven ordered, but she was grinning. "So, how many are we expecting tonight?" she asked.

"Oh, a few hundred." Raven whipped around and looked at Jason. "I know, 'ow are we gonna fit 'em all in 'ere? Well, Tony and I added an addition on to the buildin'." He reached under the bar and pushed a button. The back wall panel slid back to reveal another room behind the stage. Raven whistled. "Bloody brilliant, ain't it?"

She nodded as the door opened and people flooded in. The band got up on the stage and began to tune their instruments. Raven watched as people came in. Not many guys caught her interest but one did. He was tall, lean, and sinfully handsome. She bit her lip as she looked him over. His pitch black hair was spiked recklessly and his black eyes seemed to glint in the little light that was in the room.

He saw her looking at him and winked, not changing his facial expression. Raven shook her head to clear it and he was gone, lost in the crowd of people dancing to the music that the DJ was playing before the band started.

She turned back to the bar and ordered a strawberry daiquiri. She sipped it as the band started. When they played her favorite song, Raven was out on the dance floor, dancing with everyone else. She felt a hand on her hip. Turning around, she met the black eyes of the stranger. "Hello," he said in her ear. It was too loud to hear otherwise. She gave him a smile. "And what might a little minx like yourself be called?"

"Raven," she replied. "And you?"

"Richard." Raven let him dance with her for a little bit before pulling away and going back to the bar. She drank the rest of her daiquiri and watched the crowd. Richard followed her and sat down next to her.

Jason came over, as the band was done playing for a bit, and whispered in her ear, "So much for just dancin' and drinkin'."

Raven elbowed him as the door opened. The newcomer was of normal size with thick black hair that hung heavy on his shoulders. He wore black pants and a black t-shirt under a heavy black trench coat. He scanned the crowd and his eyes came to rest on her. "Shit," she breathed. He advanced through the crowd toward her. Raven leapt off her bar stool and made her way to the back door. Again, Richard followed her.

She ducked and dodged, but the man in the cloak was still following her. She went to turn around and felt the tip of a knife in her back. "Keep walking," Richard ordered. Raven swallowed and kept moving.

Once they were outside, Rich grabbed her arm. "Raven Roth, you are under the jurisdiction of the House of Blud, do not try to escape or you will be killed on the spot. Get in the car."

She obeyed, not sure what was going on. Once they were on the road, Raven began asking questions. "Who are you really?"

"I'm Richard Grayson, head of the House of Blud."

"Which is?"

"A vampiric society that hunts the hunters of our kind."

"And you think that I'm a hunter?" He nodded. "What gave you that idea?"

"Three years ago, you killed one of our best. He had bitten your older brother and you wanted revenge for him, so you killed him. Then, you got involved in killing others of our kind."

"Well, naturally," she said, looking out the window. "He was my big brother. When little sister aims for her target, she doesn't miss. He taught me."

"Exactly. Now that you're a full fledged hunter, we're going to bring you to our side."

"Great," Raven said, tossing her black hair over her shoulder. "Who was the guy in the coat?"

"That was a descendant of Van Helsing himself. His name was Gabriel and he knew that we were out for you and decided that he was going to try and protect you."

"So I ran from the only protection I had?" Again, Richard nodded. "God, I am so stupid." If Raven had known that whoever that guy was, she wouldn't have run. She didn't think too greatly of becoming a vampire and she was trying to think of a way out of it.

"Don't try it," Richard said as if reading her mind. "I have three more cars behind us, watching for you to do anything." Raven had to admit, he was good. She looked across the car at him and noticed that he showed no emotion.

_He's been trained as a bounty hunter_, she thought. _For all the hunters out there. He's the one who's supposed to bring them all down._ "How exactly-" she began as they heard shots fired behind them. Raven whipped around in her seat and saw he black Supra following them, Jason and Buster in the front seats. _Damn!_

Richard pulled out his phone and two-wayed the back-up guys that were following them. "Take them out," he ordered.

"No!" Raven yelled. He looked sharply at her. "If you kill them, I will rip out your barely beating heart and cram it down your throat."

"Well, that was interesting," Richard said with a look of astonishment on his otherwise blank face. He called his men back. "Don't kill them, just make it hard for them to follow us."

"They'd better not leave a scratch on my baby," she muttered, seething. Richard let a small smile slip as they drove on into the night.


	2. Breaking Raven

Raven fell asleep during the ride and was rudely awakened as someone pulled her out of the car. She looked up to see it was a dark hooded and cloaked figure. Raven knew what was coming. She walked with the figure for a minute and decided to fight for it. She spun around and kicked the figure in the stomach. He doubled over and gasped. Raven ran. She ran until she found herself surrounded by vampires on all sides. She fought, a stitch in her side, until some shot her with a tranquilizer dart. She dropped like a stone.

Richard sighed and massaged his temples with his fingers. "She's going to be difficult to break," he told the guy standing next to him.

Raven came too in a dark cell. She was laying on her stomach on the floor, chained to it by her wrists. She sat up on her knees and rubbed the back of her neck. There was a little lump there the size of a mosquito bite. _Damn vampires_, she thought as she looked around.

The room was made of all metal with no windows and only one door. The door had no handle on the inside. She looked at the metal that the cuffs on her wrists were made from. It was solid titanium. She reached down to her boot and took the bottom off the heel. She pulled a set of lock picks out of it and tried to pick the locks, to no effect.

Raven sat back and wrapped her arms around her knees. She rested her head on them and closed her eyes. Then she heard voices and the door clanked open. She blinked into the sudden light and shielded her eyes from the glare.

"Are you going to behave?" Richard asked. Raven snorted and glared up at him. "Well?"

"The day I behave is the day hell freezes over," she snapped. She slid as far back from the ruling vampire as she possibly could. "Why didn't you bite me when I was out?"

"As part of the house, I had to take an oath."

"What kind of oath?" she asked, still trying valiantly to slide out of the cuffs. Her wrists were raw and starting to bruise.

"An oath of honor. As higher beings, we don't prey on others lower than us unless they are conscious of what is going on." He turned and nodded toward the door. Two more men came in. One was bigger than Richard with dark skin and chocolate colored eyes. The other was built exactly like Richard but had emerald eyes and flaming orange hair. "Raven, meet Roy Harper and Victor James. They're here to help me break you down."

"Welcome," she said with false cheerfulness. "Come to join the party? Oh, that's great. Did you get the memo about bringing your own drinks?" Roy snorted, trying not to laugh and Victor snapped a whip across her cheek, leaving a thin line of blood.

"Well, that wasn't nice," she muttered as she wiped it on her bare shoulder. "Didn't your mother ever teach you to play ni-" She was cut off by another crack of the whip, this one wrapped around her and sliced her back open. Raven bit back a yell of pain. She looked up and saw that Richard's black eyes were now swirling silver. He licked his lips at the sight of her blood. "You know you want it," she said with a smirk. Better to play into their arms like they'd least expect than to fight like they wanted her to.

Richard stepped forward as if to bite her, but Roy stepped between them. "Don't," he warned. "You know that if you bite her now, she could go horribly wrong. We could lose her completely."

The black haired young man shook his head as if to clear it. "Thanks Roy," he said blankly. "Raven, we _will_ break you." He stood and looked down at her. He saw nothing but raw fury in her violet eyes.

"Such a waste," Vic muttered. "She's so beautiful." Raven raised her lip to him in a snarl, revealing gleaming white teeth. "She's also kind of vicious, ain't she?"

Richard laughed. "You weren't there when we got her out of the car. She took out Sam."

"Damn," Roy breathed, looking down at the small slender woman. "She's a tough little thing isn't she?" Richard looked back at her as they left, closing her in darkness once more.

She slept through the night, despite being knocked out the previous day. When Raven woke this time, she could feel the hunger knawing at her stomach. Her mouth was paper dry and she was thirsty. Raven rolled over onto her back and sat up. Her wrists were sore, but not quite bleeding. She began trying to slide out of the cuffs again.

She only stopped when they were bleeding all over the place. _Just what I need for them to see. More blood._ Raven looked around her and found that she was still in the dark, but she was no longer alone. Another figure sat huddled in the corner. They had cuffs on their wrists and ankles. "Hello?" Raven said quietly.

"Stop tryin'," the person said in a familiar voice. "It's no use. They'll get you eventually. They always get what they want." Raven knew that voice, but she couldn't see who it was. They had a tattered sweatshirt on with the hood pulled over their eyes.

"Who are you?" she asked softly.

"You used to know me as Jason." She gasped. They'd gotten to him. "Jason's gone. They've made me Caine. I'm one of 'em now." He slid into the little light that they shared. Raven could see that his eyes were sunken and he was very pale. "I'm sorry Raven, we tried."

She took his hands and he looked up and met her eyes. "Where's Buster?" she breathed.

Jason's eyes filled with tears. "He fought 'em. They couldn't take 'im down like they did me." Raven knew what was coming. "He's dead, Rae. The dirty buggers shot him."

Raven let go of Caine 's hands. "They won't break me. Just watch."

Caine shook his head. "Stay strong Rae."

She leaned forward and kissed his cold cheek. "I will Jay. I'll get us out of this."

The door slammed open and the three from yesterday entered. "Good morning!" Raven said cheerfully. They looked at her like she was crazy. "Shall we get on with the breaking then?"

"I suppose," Richard said, watching her warily. He noticed the dried blood on her cheek and on her back. "If we must we must." He nodded to Victor who brought forth a red-hot fire iron. Raven let a sliver of fear show through on her mask of concentration. Again, she was working at the cuffs. Vic came forward and pressed the iron to the back of her neck. She hissed as it burned her but said no more.

"Roy," Richard called. Victor pulled the iron away and shook his head. He had to go reheat it. He'd held it to her neck long enough to the point that it had cooled too much. Roy came forth with another man and a tub of water big enough for Raven to bathe in.

They unchained her, picked her up and threw her in. Raven struggled to get to the surface, but they were holding her under. She could feel consciousness slipping from her grasp when they pulled her back up. Richard cupped her chin and made her look into his endless black eyes. "How does it feel?" he breathed. "How does it feel to be broken?"

"You...should know," she said as she gasped for air. They threw her back in. Raven didn't struggle this time. When they pulled her back out, she was thrown onto the floor and rechained. Vic, Roy and their unknown accomplice left, leaving Raven, Caine, and Richard alone in the room.

"I don't know," he said, squatting down next to the half drowned and shivering Raven. "I went willingly. They didn't have to break me." He left again. Raven curled into a ball and shivered so hard her teeth rattled.

She felt Caine come over and wrap himself around her, trying to keep her warm, careful of her neck where she had been burned. He took off his sweatshirt and tossed it over her sopping form. "Th-thanks," she said quietly. "For being here."

"I don't have much of a choice," he said dryly. They both gave a morbid laugh.


	3. Apologies

**To all my avid readers:**

Many apologies to all of my avid readers and reviewers, I haven't been able to

update because I have mistakenly left my flashdrive at the local library and wish

haven't been able to get it back. I hope to go there and pick it up either tomorrow

or Thursday. Forgive me...

My most humble apologies,

_Anonymous Hellchild_


	4. A Mentor

When Raven woke the next morning, she was extremely sick. Her entire body ached and she felt like someone was stabbing her with a thousand hot knives. She rolled over and threw up into a garbage basket that was placed beside the bed. "Ohmigod," she moaned. Raven rolled back over onto her back and found that the whole room was spinning. She sat up and placed a foot on the floor. That stopped the bed. Reaching out, she touched the wall and almost everything was still

"Raven?" someone called outside the door. "Are you up?"

"Mmmmmhhh!" she moaned and flopped back down on the bed.

The door opened and Malorie entered. "Oh, you look like shit," she said sympathetically. "I'm so glad that nobody was with me when my organs rearranged themselves."

"What?" Raven asked, holding her head. Malorie then proceeded to explain the process that her body went through while the blood and organs were rearranging themselves. "Jesus Christ," Raven muttered.

"How do you feel?" Malorie asked.

"Mal, how did you feel?" Raven snapped. She bit her tongue. _Why am I being so short with her? She didn't do anything to me._ She looked down and found that she was in a silk nightgown and her dress was gone. "How long is this going to last?" she demanded.

"Oh, another ten minutes," Malorie said looking at her nails. "You've been out for four days."

"FOUR DAYS?!!!" Raven yelped. She regretted it as she threw up again in the garbage basket. Slowly, the room stopped spinning and she felt almost normal, except for the undying thirst she felt.

Malorie stood. "Come with me. We'll get you some new clothes and I'll take you to the mentor room." Raven looked confused but followed the Amazon woman who was now wearing a black mini-skirt and a white tank top. Malorie led Raven to her new suite of rooms and Raven found a new wardrobe. "Now, you don't have to live here at the House of Blud, but most of the time it's easier." Raven pulled on a pair of black jeans and a black t-shirt. "But you do have to have a mentor. That's where we're going now. You may get lucky, maybe not."

Raven was led down more halls, but this time, she knew where she was going so she walked _with_ Mal rather than behind her. They entered another big room, but the people here were dressed causally. Raven sat down at one of the tables as Malorie left her. She'd been sitting for some time and talked to a few others looking for mentors when she heard someone clear their throat behind her. Again, she turned around to find Richard standing there, but this time, he was wearing jeans and a black t-shirt.

"Need a mentor?" he asked with a grin. In the past twenty-four hours, he'd completely turned around from the no-emotion head of the House to this guy who grinned all the time. "Malorie found me."

"Did she now?" Raven asked. His grin got even bigger. "And yes, I do need a mentor." She stood and they walked out, all eyes on them. Again.

Richard led her out toward the front door. Before they reached their escape into the nightlife of Gothom, he stopped. "You have to promise me that you won't try to run." She bit her lip. How could she promise that? "Raven, promise me that I won't have to give my men the order to take you out."

"I promise," she whispered. That there was the end of her planning to escape. Or so he thought.

He smirked. "Good. Come on. I have a surprise for you." He took her hand and led her out to the dark parking lot. Raven gasped as they turned down row of cars. Her own little black Supra was speeding toward them. It came to a screeching halt and Roy got out.

He grinned. "Nice wheels for a chick," he said running his fingers through his hair.

"You should see me behind the wheel," she said with a smirk. She opened the driver's side door and lifted the seat for Roy. He climbed in the back and sat down in the middle seat. Richard sat in the passenger seat and Raven sat behind the wheel with an audible sigh. She was happy to be back behind the wheel.

"Let's go to the Twilight Crossing," Roy offered.

"Alright," Rich sighed. "Pull out and take a left."

Raven did so and she drove at breakneck speed. Roy was sitting in the back, wincing every time they passed a car. "Relax," she grinned in the rearview mirror. Richard was sitting silently in his seat, his pale face paler than usual. "Fine, I'll slow down."

When they got to the club, Raven grinned. She could feel the throb of the music from across the street. She could smell the blood. Without warning, her fangs grew and she went to step across the street. "Whoa," Rich said grabbing her hand. "Not so fast. You need to drink vampire blood before you go off and drink human blood."

"Why?" she demanded licking her lips.

"Because you have to get some of our blood flowing through you first or you'll end dying." She let Richard lead her into the club. It was hot, loud and dark. The ceiling was painted to look like the night sky with glow in the dark paint. The strobe lights made Raven dizzy, but she got used to them fast. The music was techno-pop and it made her want to dance. Richard grabbed her arm and led her back to the bar, warding off all the vampires that looked at her as if she were a tasty morsel. "Don't look at them," he said over the music. Raven kept her eyes focused on the back of Richard's neck.

By the time they reached the bar, Raven's need for blood was stronger than anything she'd ever felt. She grasped Richard's arm and looked up into his eyes. "Just a little bit longer," he said with a smile. She knew that he was waiting for someone to come and meet them at the bar. Raven knew that she needed to drink now. She turned to Roy who was on her left and looked at him, eyes pleading.

"I can't," he said, tucking a strand of hair back from her face. "He'll be here-ah, there he is." Raven turned and looked at her vampire donor.

It was Caine.

"Richard, I can't," she said abruptly. "He was one of my best friends."

"That's why," he said with a small smile. "You have to get used to preying on anyone willing and when I asked Caine, he agreed eagerly. I'll leave you to alone for a little bit." He and Roy went to find a couple females for them to prey on.

Raven turned to Caine. "Caine, I-" she began.

"Do it," he said, pulling away the collar of his black t-shirt. She could see the pulse in his neck. She couldn't resist. Her fangs slid out of their sheathes and she stepped forward. Swiftly piercing his flesh, she filled her mouth with the tang of his blood. She realized that there was a certain spice to it that made her skin prickle. When, she'd had her fill, she pulled back and wiped the corners of her mouth on her hand. "Well?"

"I feel better," she replied with a sheepish grin. "Thank you."

"Wanna dance?"

Raven felt an odd, inhuman presence behind her. She turned around and saw a guy with silver hair standing behind her. His eyes were a deep navy. "Just a sec," she replied. He nodded. She turned to thank Caine, but he'd disappeared. She turned back to the stranger and offered him her hand. He helped her off the barstool and onto the dance floor.

"I'm Damon," he said once they'd began to dance.

"Raven," she replied. He smiled at her and Raven knew he wasn't a vampire. He placed his hands on her hips and drew her close to him. Raven draped her arms around his neck and swayed with the music.

"So, where did the lucky guy find you?" Damon asked.

"Excuse me?"

"Where did you come from and who turned you?" he laughed.

Raven grinned. "Another club, and it was Richard." Damon froze and looked down at her. "What?"

"You're one of Richard's girls?" He nodded. "Awww, hell." He let her go and stepped back. Raven grabbed his arm and looked at him, a silent question in her eyes. "We've got bad blood between us. Literally. There was a blood feud a few centuries back."

"Centuries?" she breathed.

"Yeah, we age at one twentieth the mortal rate. If he catches me with you, there'll be hell to pay. From both clans."

Raven pulled him back to her. She looked up at him. "No there won't," she stated. "What he doesn't know is that he never broke me. If I didn't depend on him to help me survive as a knew vampire, he'd be dead in the blink of an eye." _So would you if I could figure out what the hell you are,_ she thought

"Ah," Damon smirked. "You're one of his hunter girls. This could be interesting."

"Raven?" Raven turned around and grinned at Richard. "Damon," he said with a snarl. "What the hell are you doing with one of mine?"

"Hey, I tried to back off, dammit," Damon growled back. "It's her this time."

Richard looked down at Raven with a cold look. "Raven?"

"Richard." She looked back with just as cold a look. "I dance with who I please."

He took a breath to say something and thought better of it. "Fine," he breathed. He glared at Damon. "If you so much as breath in her direction after this, I'll have you staked."

"Well, someone's grumpy," Damon grinned a malicious grin. Richard sneered at him and walked away. Damon turned back to Raven. "You've gotta have balls to the walls to stand up to Richard like that," he laughed.

"No, I just don't like the feeling of being owned." Raven smiled evilly at him. "I'm only twenty-three. I can still have some fun."

Damon laughed and they danced on.

Richard came for Raven around three. She laughed as he pulled her away from the bar. "How many drinks have you had tonight?" he asked as he threw her arm around his shoulder and held her up by the waist. "You do know that it takes roughly fifty bottles of beer to get plastered?"

"Yeah," she slurred. "I had waaaaaayyyyyyy more than that." She laughed as he helped her into her car. Roy was passed out in the back seat. "Wow," she grinned. "He looks like I'm gonna in a minute."

"God I hope not," Richard grumbled. "Roy can get pretty ugly when he's-" He sighed as Raven passed out against the window. "Great, two of them," he muttered. He drove them home and called Roy's latest girl to come and get him. He carried Raven up to her suite of rooms and gently set her down on the bed. Richard removed her boots from her feet and tucked her under her covers.

With a sigh, he stood. It was going to be a long hundred years. He looked out the window and saw that the sky was beginning to lighten up. He walked over to the door and yelled down the hall, "Sunrise!"

There was more shouting and the clang of the metal shutters closing out all sunlight. Yawning, he went over and closed the curtains that hid the ugly metal shutters and crawled into bed next to Raven.


End file.
